This girl Anastasia is finishing her studies in Social Work, but (sadly) makes more money as a schlock vendor... where she will continue to work after university.

For Commie kitsch enthusiasts (like me), she has the best stuff for sale in all of Russia...

...including the only bust of Marx I have ever seen in all my travels through Commie capitals.

Back on the streets, Russian "touchiness" is everywhere...

...as are the fashion victims.

Yuri Gagarin, the first astronaut in space, is now repopularized in a cell phone advert.

The Amway invasion is but one aspect of the general "Americanization" that seems predominant in Russia.

"Bourgeois" adverts appear by the old Soviet regalia.

This restaurant, named after the N.E.P., typifies the Rusian self-consciousness of Communism. The "New Economic Policy" was Lenin's desperate economic liberalization plan designed to help alleviate the mass starvation due to his eradication of private markets and collectivization programs of the early 20's.

A visit to the Museum of Ethnography, in and of itself, may not be so interesting...

...except for its exhibition of freaks!

To overcome the superstitiousness of the Russian peasantry, Peter took samples of malformed fetuses to educate the masses.

The collection is sad and gruesome...

...but it was effective as an educational tool of science against religious superstition.

We take an evening stroll, and encounter this dilapidated bus! Belive it or not, it is a Mercedes!

We pause for a "White Nights" moment before the Trotsky Bridge (of course named after Lenin's comrade Trotsky, who Stalin later assasinated).

Between the hours of 1am and 3am, the bridges of St. Petersburg are lifted so that boats can pass through from the Gulf of Finland into the interior.

The effect is breathless.

Of course, the Russian beer Baltika helps... and a little goes a long way. Baltika 9 is 16% alcohol!

An example of the Baltika effect.

At 3 in the morning, people of all walks take the boat to experience "White Nights."

This represents the darkest it gets in late June. It is 3:30 am.

The next day, we ride the hydrofoil across the Gulf of Finland. Destination: the opulent Peterhof, the Palace of Peter the Great.

Water Avenue leads up to the palace... which could be dubbed the Russian Versailles.

In 1941, Stalin removed all the treasures from Peterhof and then bombed it (to prevent Hitler from hosting a Victory Party there). What remains is a reconstruction.

Wandering through the gardens, I notice a costume store.

It is difficult to imagine the Czarist aristocracy holding video cameras.

But alas... when in Rome!

Czar Peter had a good sense of humor. He designed "hidden" water barages.